On Wednesday, the Federal Government brought 15 alleged assailants of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili to the Federal High Court in Abuja for arraignment.
The accused were carried into Court 11 by Nigerian Police Force agents from the Force Headquarters at approximately 01:40 p.m., where they will be arraigned before Justice Nkeonye Maha.
On Nov. 11, the Police High Command displayed 15 suspects in connection with the invasion of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili’s Abuja apartment, identifying them as impostors unknown to any of the country’s security authorities.
A false Chief Superintendent of Police Lawrence Ajojo is among the 14 suspects paraded at the Force Headquarters Annex in Abuja, according to Force spokesman Frank Mba.
According to him, the suspects arranged to raid the property after learning that the Supreme Court justice was keeping a big sum of money in foreign currencies.
Two troops are among the seven suspects still on the loose, according to Mba.
The suspects in the illegal conduct, he added, came from a variety of vocations, including media, banking, law enforcement, and law.
He claimed the syndicates, who included a journalist named Stanley Nkwazema, were loose canons and document forgers who worked on their own and were not employed by any Ministry of Justice personnel.
According to NAN, on October 29, armed security officers allegedly invaded Justice Odili’s apartment at 7, Imo Street, Maitama, Abuja, on the basis of an alleged tip-off by a whistleblower, one Aliyu Umar, who claimed to have witnessed suspicious activity at the residence.
According to reports, Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Iyanna authorized a search order issued by the Ministry of Justice’s Joint Panel Recovery Unit, which led to the invasion of Odili’s residence.
The magistrate eventually reversed the order, claiming that he had been mislead, and that the police and other security services were likewise unaware of the raid.
The police, on the other hand, praised the security staff assigned to Odili’s apartment for not giving the suspects entrance to the building, adding that the operation could have been a national humiliation if it had succeeded.
Many Nigerians and interest groups, including the Nigerian Bar Association, the Supreme Court, the National Assembly, many state governors, and civil society organizations, have condemned the siege.
Separately, Attorney-General of the Federation Abubakar Malami, SAN, and Inspector-General of Police Usman Baba denied authorizing or knowing about the search.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Department of State Services (DSS), both related to the invasion, denied any involvement.
The court had not yet begun sitting at the time of filing the report.
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